Process of manufacturing draft-rigging yokes



Apr. 3, 1923.

1,450,361 G. G. FLOYD I PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING DRAFT RIGGING YOKES Filed July 24, 1919 H HII.

Patented Apr. 3, 1923.

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GEORGE G. FLOYD, F RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR WILLIAM H. MINER, O F

GHAZY, NEW YORK. 1

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING DRAFT-RIGGING- YOKES.

Application filed July 24, 1919. Serial No. 313,097.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE G. FLOYD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Riv-' erside, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Processes of Manufacturing Draft-Rigging Yokes, of which the following is anal, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the aclo companying drawings, forming a partof this specification.

' This invention relates to improvements in process of manufacturing draft rigging y'okes.

In certaintypes of railway draft riggings, it has been found advisable to employ yokes forope'ratively connecting the shock absorbing mechanism proper with the draw bar,

which yokes willperinit of a swinging or radial'mov'ementof thedr aw bar with respect to the shock absorbing mechanism proper. It is not new, broadly, to provide a so-called pivotal yoke but heretofore, such yokes have usually been manufactured in the form of castings entirely in order to obtain the proper pivotalconnection between the head and strap. i

As is well known, cast metal is not as oilicientper weight of'metal under tension as is wrought metal and consequently, it is desirable to provide a yoke in which the principal tension member is formed of wrought or rolled metal and the element which is directly connected to the coupler, formed of cast metal. It has also been found desirable not only to provide a pivotal connection between the so-called head and strap members, but in addition, to so arrange the pivotal connection that relatively longitudinal movement between the head and strap, as might occur in a bufiing movement, be prevented.

{Itis also desirable that, the head and strap be so" assembled when manufactured and shipped for application, that they cannot .be disa embled accidentally before application-tofthecars.

Theobjeotof my invffintion is to provide asii iiple, efiioient and commercially practical'lprooessi of mapnufacturin f riggi g yaks composed jofltwo elements, a: cast head anfd ;.a, wrought of rolled; yoke-'fstrap, possessingiall the desirable features above enumo tifie a d-fre f om th bjec ons i dated.

specification, Figure 1' is a plan or layout of the strap part of the yoke, F igurelifllustrating said strap as it is first formed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation'of the strap in'the form illustrated in Fig. 1. Fig. 3' isa side ele-va-' tion of the strap as it appears in its final corda-nce .withmy process. And F ig. 6'is a I top plan View of the yoke shown in Fig: "5, a portion ofthe strap being broken. away in order to accommodate the figure on the sheet ofthe drawing. 5 '7:

Before describing the process forming the subject matter of this application, I will first describe the completed article in order that a clearer idea may beobtainedof tliestepseinployed in the process. F or this, "purpose, reference will first bemade to Figs. 5 and 6'. The completed yoke,as shown, comprises two elements designated generally by the referenoes'A andB. The reference. A is applied to what is known as the yoke head and the reference B to the partknown' asthe strap. Said head. A is preferably 'in the form of a inalleablecasting andhas two side walls 10-10 and upper and lower trans versely extending connecting walls 11 .11,

thus forinin ahead whicliisihollow and of substantially box-like or rectangular form. The side walls 10 are forwardly 'eX- tended as indicatedat" in Figs. 5"a'nd6, this being done in order to provide sufficient metal surrounding the usual coupler key slots 12}l2, itjbeing understood that a trailsversel'yflextending key will be e ite'r'ided through said slots 12 andthroiiglicorif espending slot in the rear "of thefcoupl'enfthe loo butt of the coupler beingdisposed'witliin assembled. rnj raerao "permit 0 or radiallmovemeiitfbetweeifgthe l stfap 'B; imak ihwu. i I walls I1" concaw' easiindi;

the head A whenthe yokeand drawbarfare iop'er d bji r Gat d at s inFig. *6. It willfjbe noted that ese,- e ers'lbeeri 'a d s l e W tended and 151 1 fact 't ema l- ,1 baiau ea .i '-..t

ing. The rear edges of the upper and lower walls 11 are left straight as indicated at 1 1. Preferably, the side walls 10 of the head are flared somewhat as apparent from inspection of Fig. 6 and also, to better accommodate the relative swinging movements of the strap and head, the latter is provided on the inner faces of the side walls thereof with beveled grooves 1515 in'alinement with the upper and lower opposed portions of the arms of the strap B.

The strap B is of substantially U-shape having an upper arm 16, lower arm 17 and a rear connecting section 18. At their forward ends, the arms 16 and 17 are provided with enlarged heads indicated at 1919, which maybe said to be of T-form. that is. they are extended laterally beyond the side edges of the main body of the strap arms 16 and 17. These T-heads 19 are also made substantially thicker than the thickness of the main portions of the strap as indicated at 2020 in Fig. 5. This is for the purpose of obtaining greater strength where the pulling load is applied to the strap and also to obtain a wider bear ing on the rear convexly curved edges 21-21 of the T-heads which cooperate with the concave bearing edges 13 of the head A. The arms 16 and 17 of the strap B are also formed with offsets indicated at 22-22 passing around the upper and lower walls 1111 of the head A. This results in the formation of shoulders in the arms 16 and '17, said shoulders being indicated at 2323 on the rear sides of the upper and lower walls 11 of the head A. Said shoulders 23 are preferably made convex as indicated at 24: in Fig. 6, so as to facilitate relative swinging movements between the head A and strap B.

As evident from an inspection of Figs. 5 and 6, the overall height of the strap B is substantially the same as the overall height of the head A and consequently it is impossible to assemble the heads A. and B by slipping the one over the other while the strap B is in its finished usable form.

In carrying out my process, I provide a cast head A of the construct-ion shown in the drawings and hereinbefore described. Such a cast head A is preferably in the form of a. malleable casting and, of course, does not involve any molding or annealing steps that are not well known.

In making the strap B, I first take a piece of wrought or rolled strap iron or steel of the proper width and thickness and necessary length. This strap I then forge or upset while in the flat form to the design shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and indicated by the reference B In other words, the strap in its form indicated by the reference B has a main central section referenced 25 which is perfectly flat and of the original form of the stock material and at each end is offset and forged to provide T-heads 119 and offset portions 122. The T-heads 119 are thickened and formed with the convex bearing edges 121 and opposed shoulders formed because of the offsets 122 are also convex as indicated at 124.

The next step in the formation of the strap is that of simple bending to a U-shape about suitable mandrels or forms so that the strap assumes the condition indicated by the reference B in Fig. 3. In this form, the strap is the same as in its completed form, both as to shape and size. During this step, the strap will not be subjected to any severe or unusual strains since the bending occurs only at the corners indicated at 26-26 and no weakening of the metal will occur.

1 next take the strap in its form indicated by the reference B and deform it or compress it in a vertical direction to the condition indicated in Fig. 1. In other words, the strap B is compressed by applying pressure to the arms thereof at points well remote from the rear end of the strap so as to place bends 2727 in the arms, said bends 27 being on a relatively long radius which will in nowise injure the metal. During this deforming step, the rear connectin section of the strap will also be bent as ind1cated at 28 on a relatively long radius but without deforming the corner bends 2626 that were previously in the strap of the form shown in Fig. 3. The deformation of the strap to the form indicated by the reference B decreases the vertical height of the strap, both at its rear end and at the forward free ends of the arms sufficiently to permit the insertion of the deformed strap B longitudinally within the head A. This latter step then takes place merely by slipping the head A over the strap B until the offset portions 122122 of the strap come opposite the upper and lower walls 11 11 of the head A. Thereupon. a suitable expanding tool in the form of a blunt wedge or other device will be inserted between the deformed arms of the strap and the latter spread until they are parallel. and again in the finished or completed condition. Simultaneously with this spreading of the arms of the strap, the rear section 28 of the strap will tend to straighten and such straightening may be assisted by the suitable application of dies or other tools thereto so as to leave the rear section of the strap straight, as shown in I 3 and 5. The spreading of the arms of the strap as thus described will, of course, result in the seating of the upper and lower walls 11-11 of the head A within the offsets 122 of the strap and thus leave the yoke in its final form ready for shipment and application without any danger of accidental disassembling or disconnection of the parts.

One of the important features of my process is in the elimination of the formation of any sharp bends in the strap, which sharp bends frequently result in permanent injury to the metal. By my process, I am also insured of retaining the proper bends in the corners at the rear end of the strap since these are formed at a time during the process of the manufacture of the strap when they can be accurately made. It is, of course, essential that the rear end of the strap be accurately formed because of the great tension to which the strap is subjected in actual service.

Although I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out the process, I contemplate such changes and modifications as come within the scope of the claim appended hereto.

I claim:

The herein described process of manufacturing an assembled yoke having a hollow head and a substantially U-shaped strap which, when assembled in operative condition, have shouldered engagement with each other, including: providing a hollow head having side, top and bottom walls; providing a substantially U-shaped strap of the finished size and form employed in the operative structure, each of the arms of the strap having spaced shoulders adapted for engagement with portions of said head when the two parts are operatively assembled; temporarily deforming said strap of the finished size and form to an overall height less than the distance between the top and bottom walls of the head to permit the head and strap being telescopically assembled; telescopically assembling the head and tem porarily deformed strap; and finally reforming the strap to its finished size and operative form with the shoulders thereof in cooperative relation with the corresponding portions of the head.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 3rd day of July 1919.

GEORGE e. FLOYD. Witnesses:

O. R. MITCHELL, W. S. TROWBRIDGE. 

